Economic competence: Friedrich Merz clearly beats Olaf Scholz

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“It’s the economy, stupid!” Bill Clinton won the 1992 US presidential election with this slogan. If the CDU and CSU have their way, the next federal election will be similar. “The German economy is not in an economic crisis,” the CDU leader keeps saying, “but rather in a structural growth weakness.” The candidate for chancellor is also clear on who can overcome this: himself.

Friedrich Merz beats Olaf Scholz in economic competence

If the next federal election campaign were to revolve mainly around economic issues, Friedrich Merz would actually have significantly better chances than Olaf Scholz (SPD). As a Forsa survey commissioned by the star According to a survey, 47 percent of citizens trust the Union’s candidate for chancellor to get the economy moving again. Only 16 percent say the same about the incumbent chancellor. 37 percent expect neither of them to do so.

Friedrich Merz convinces above all his own supporters (79 percent), but also the voters of the FDP (55 percent) and the Sahra Wagenknecht coalition (69 percent). Olaf Scholz is only ahead among supporters of the SPD (43 percent) and the Greens (37 percent). Among FDP voters, just two percent see Scholz as having economic expertise. As many as 21 percent of SPD supporters find Merz more convincing on economic issues.

However, a group that is particularly important for economic development largely denies that either Merz or Scholz has the ability to stimulate growth: 54 percent of the self-employed do not trust either of them to turn the economy around. 37 percent see advantages with Merz, only 16 percent with Scholz.

The data was collected by the market and opinion research institute Forsa for the star and RTL Deutschland between September 19 and 20, 2024 by telephone. This makes the survey representative. Data basis: 1009 respondents. Statistical error tolerance: +/- 3 percentage points.